Head of Product Development at Acro Aircraft Seating

Head of Product Development  

Acro Aircraft Seating is one of the UK’s leading and fastest-growing manufacturers of passenger seats for commercial airlines around the world.  We are an agile, innovative business at the forefront of disrupting the aerospace market. Through modern methodologies, lean techniques, inspired innovation, and passion for being the best, Acro is positioning itself to be the world’s leading aircraft seating supplier.

Collaboration is one of Acro’s core values, by working together and applying our skills and expertise across Sales, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain and Operations, we find the solutions to our clients’ most complex challenges and how we deliver our promises today and tomorrow.

Location:              UK 

Salary:                  Competitive 

EXCELLENT BENEFITS

• 25 days holiday + bank holidays
• Pension
• Healthcare scheme
• Life assurance
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Retail discounts
• Training opportunities
• 37.5 hours per week – 1 pm finish on a Friday
• Hybrid working

Job Description

The purpose of the Head of Product Development role is to provide leadership and direction to the Product Development Team in the effective and efficient development of seating products, ranging from concept studies to all new product programs, customer integration programs and product upgrades. Reporting to the Technical Director, you will be accountable for the development and implementation of best practice in all areas of product design engineering to deliver safe, competitive products, compliant to all applicable regulatory and integration requirements in support of Acro’s business objectives. You will manage a team of direct and indirect reports comprising a cross-functional team of mechanical and electrical engineers in the development of key products & technologies to produce robust engineering solutions that are delivered right first time, on time and to budget. You will collaborate effectively with the Principal Engineering Project Lead to assign appropriate resource to meet program deliverables, and with the Validation and Certification Teams to deliver robust, certified solutions to market. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Providing leadership and direction for the Product Development Team to achieve effective and efficient development of seating products in line with the Product Roadmap and customer program commitments.
• Drive industry leading best practice, technical standards and methods within the Product Development Team to optimise the development process and deliver competitive benefit to Acro.
• Collaborate & negotiate with the Principal Engineering Project Lead to achieve program targets (weight, cost, quality, schedule, budget, feature compliance, regulatory compliance) and to achieve the optimum balance between achieving engineering excellence and schedule/budget priorities.
• Support the Principal Engineers in finding solutions to resource conflicts to support multiple programs.
• Resource planning and tracking to enable efficient and effective use of the functional resource group to deliver all programs, support the EPL, Program Management and Finance teams in managing resource within budget constraints.
• Development and delivery of the Product Roadmap that achieves Acro’s business goals, in conjunction with Acro Commercial team.
• Develop and implement performance and development goals and objectives for the department aligned to business objectives.
• Provide input into the business planning budget cycle within area of accountability for engineering, including third party spend and sizing and shaping the team to deliver the business needs.
• Support the Sales Team and bid process through providing a technical steer and an assessment of risk, engineering cost and timing for the introduction of new products or features.
• Act as a change catalyst within the business driving functional and business excellence for Engineering. Driving the implementation of process improvement initiatives to deliver Opportunities to the engineering team.

Skills and experience required

• Strong Mechanical Engineering related degree
• Strong track record of Engineering achievement associated with the technical development of safe and reliable technical products to cost, schedule and quality.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to challenge and influence at a senior management level.
• Strong negotiating and decision-making skills.
• Strong planning and organisational skills — with the ability to manage multiple, complex projects and the associated resources.
• A flexible mindset — with the ability to respond positively and creatively to changing priorities.
• Ability to operate under pressure and tight deadlines.
• Focus on results — driving actions to reach challenging goals, proactively overcoming all obstacles.
• Resilient, with a positive approach to achieving results.
• Willingness to engage in occasional UK and worldwide travel; or to support extended working hours when necessary.

The Parent Company of ACRO Aircraft Seating is Zhejiang Tiancheng Controls Co., Ltd headquartered in China. 

We really want to hear from you, so don’t miss your opportunity to join us! Once you apply, your CV will be held on our central database.  Please do let us know if you do not wish for us to retain your details. If your application is successful, you will be contacted in due course.

Acro Aircraft Seating is an equal opportunities employer.

Please view our website for access to our Job Applicant Privacy Notice.

The closing date for applications is 19th June 2025. 

Please note: This advert may close early if sufficient applications are received. Acro Aircraft Seating uses reserve lists for positions where more than one candidate is deemed suitable for a position. Reserve lists are in place for 12 months, during which time reserve candidates may be offered the same or similar post should one become available.